Hundreds of thousands of the inmates in the nation's prison systems today are identified as mentally ill. Patricia E. Erickson and Steven K. Erickson explore how societal beliefs about free will and moral responsibility have shaped current policies and identify the differences among the legal and health care systems. The authors provide a critical analysis of topics, via high-profile cases, including legal standards for competency, insanity versus mental illness, sex offenders, psychologically disturbed juveniles, the injury and death rates of mentally ill prisoners due to inappropriate use of force, the high level of suicide, and the release of mentally ill persons from prisons who have received little or no treatment.

Hundreds of thousands of the inmates in the nation's prison systems today are identified as mentally ill. Patricia E. Erickson and Steven K. Erickson explore how societal beliefs about free will and moral responsibility have shaped current policies and identify the differences among the legal and health care systems. The authors provide a critical analysis of topics, via high-profile cases, including legal standards for competency, insanity versus mental illness, sex offenders, psychologically disturbed juveniles, the injury and death rates of mentally ill prisoners due to inappropriate use of force, the high level of suicide, and the release of mentally ill persons from prisons who have received little or no treatment.